I was born in a family which, while far better off than Marianet�s, cannot buy all the members� wish. My parents are able to provide well for us, but still there are times I feel that I deserve more. In a predominantly Catholic society like ours, it is considered a sin to ask more than what is available, but I�ll be a hypocrite if I will say that I�m content. I often wish that my family has more money, or that we live in a more comfortable house, or that we all drive our own cars. I�ve once wished to had been born from another family (but I took it back because I�ve realized that my parents are the best in the world because they are willing to do everything just to make me and my brothers and sister happy).

When I was in my early teens, not only once did I think that it was better if my parents had decided not to bring me into this world. I thought that the world was unfair: some children get to have parents who could buy them the latest phone models, while some (my lot) get stuck with parents who could buy them phones which are two years out of date. If I wasn�t born, then I wouldn�t experience any pain, especially emotional pain, which is the worst kind of torture a child could endure.

As a teenager, death had come to me more than once, offering a quick and easy answer to my problems. Its offer was tempting: eternal bliss. I believe that the cousin of this death was the one who knocked on Marianet�s door. Her death could have offered a more attractive deal to her than my death to me, so she accepted it at such a young age.

While I sympathize with the girl�s parents for the loss of a loving daughter, I deeply empathize with Marianet. I cannot blame her parents; they did not want the incident to happen. But this whole thing may have happened because of their miseducation or lack of education when it comes to family planning. This continues to happen because many Filipinos believe that the more children have, the more their chances of getting out of poverty are. There is nothing wrong with having a big family, as long as the parents are able to provide for all their children�s needs. And I think that it is wrong to think of children as banks wherein they can withdraw money from anytime a need arises.

I believe that the authorities lack the initiative to explain to people the good side of having a small family. The government lack proper and efficient family planning programs that will give incentives to those who plan their families. The Church also had a hand in the miseducation of so many Filipinos, as it forbids modern birth control methods and endorses the �natural� ones which are hardly fool-proof.

For this reason also, I believe that abortion should be legalized in the Philippines (and for condoms, pills, etc., to be endorsed by the Church). Not only because every woman should have the right to do whatever she wants with her body, but also because it is the best for the unwanted child. A rape victim, for example, is more likely to neglect her child born out of the abuse because it will remind her of the unfortunate event. She might leave it at an orphanage, which is still lucky, because some might leave it outside a church, or worse in a trash bin, where it will probably cry its self to death or get eaten by a hungry dog. The orphan kid may grow up to be a fine man or woman, but he or she will be haunted by the pain of not having a parent to guide him or her. In the case of a child kept by a victim mother, it might grow up a rotten kid. There are isolated cases wherein supposedly aborted children are now accepted and loved by their parents, but most of the time children remain unwanted. It is selfish to let a child live in a world where it will only feel detested and unloved.

Marianet Amper�s problem also stemmed from the lack of appropriate projects by the current government to help alleviate poverty:

1. Jobs
Marianet�s father had lost his job in the construction, and her family lives in her mother�s meagre income as a laundrywoman.

2. Food
Instant noodles are hardly affordable, so the members of the Amper family content themselves with green leafy vegetables they find around the house. While talbos is nutritious, it provides only a fraction of the vitamins and minerals their bodies need to function properly. Also, each of them eats half the amount of rice appropriate for his or her age. When they can�t find anything acceptable to eat, they skip meals.

Why can�t they afford other food products? Prices of meat, vegetables and grains increase monthly (a exaggeration? I think not), as prices of oil that powers vehicles that are used to transport them increase fortnightly.

3. Education

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